Ecuador (an epic series of posts; stay hydrated and take pee breaks)

I'm going way off the topic of this blog for a post or two.  I just got back from Ecuador last night, and at least one reader of this blog (hi, Nicole!) has requested a post about my experiences on the trip.

This post and several more posts to come are about my vacation in Quito, Ecuador.  After that departure, I'll return to the topic of overcoming junk food addiction, and working toward the specific goal of abstaining from junk for three complete months.

Quito is the capital city of Ecuador and second-largest city in the country.  It is the highest elevation capital city in the world.  It is in the fucking Andes.  It's in a valley nestled between active volcanoes, and just a few hours' drive from the Amazon rain forest.  In case you were wondering where the hell in South America it is, it's kind of in the northwest of the continent and borders both Colombia and Peru.  Ecuador does have Pacific coastline, but Quito is pretty far inland.  Interestingly, it's only a four-hour flight from Miami, Florida.

How did I wind up in Ecuador after less than two months of knowing I was going to be there?  My husband, Adam, had an opportunity to be flown there by his employer (a big multi-national corporation) for a business trip.  Since his expenses were paid by his company, here was a (probably once-in-a-lifetime) chance for us to take a vacation there together, and only have to pay for one person's airfare, thus plunging into an only mildly scary amount of credit card debt.  From June 8-11, he did work stuff, and even got in some sight-seeing with his co-workers on the company's dime.  At about 8:00 pm on the 11th, I arrived in Quito, and got to spend one night in the very fancy-shmancy hotel that his company paid for (Le Parc Hotel.)  It was not a big room in terms of size, but it was luxuriously appointed (and had a mini-fridge stocked with drinks).

In the morning we transferred to a less expensive hotel that was within short walking distance, Finlandia Hotel.  This was a nice place and comparable to your average middle-of-the-road hotel in the States.  However, their complimentary breakfast service was much nicer (complete buffet, not merely continental) and their customer service in general was above and beyond.  They also had a laundry service, but we didn't partake due to my cultural discomfort with strangers handling my undies.  The only slight drawback was that they didn't have a thermostat or any apparent air conditioning in the room.  Since it was a temperate 70-75 degrees in Quito (which it pretty much always is, giving it the title of "Land of Eternal Spring"), just keeping the windows open kept the room feeling comfortable.  However, having open windows meant we had to subject ourselves to the full loudness of major construction going on next door in the mornings, and at night, loud protests. (More to come on civil unrest in Ecuador, which people there referred to as "the problems.")

Let me back up to when I first arrived at the airport in Quito (Mariscal Sucre Internacional).  An Ecuadorian co-worker of Adam's had arranged a car service (it's not his job to do that, he was just really awesome) to come and pick me up from the airport.  It wasn't paid for by the company, but it was the same car service used by the company, so it was very high-quality.  For the first time, I had the experience of being met at an airport by a stranger holding a sign with my name on it, which is kinda cool.

I was expecting a man, but it was a woman named Chorrito.  She greeted me with a hug and a cheek-kiss, which seems to be the custom there (and probably other South American countries, much as in many parts of Europe), particularly among women.  She spoke a little bit of English, but less than I speak Spanish.  The driver, Diego, didn't really speak any English, so I guessed they had just sent Chorrito to ride along so she could go inside the aiport and meet me while Diego stayed with the car, and maybe also because she spoke some English.  The car was a very clean and very new dark-colored SUV.

It was about a 30 to 40 minute drive from the airport to the hotel, so I got to use my rusty Spanish skills for small talk on the car ride, which was pleasant and only slightly awkward, if at all.  They were both incredibly nice and I especially appreciated that even though there was something of a language barrier they were still happy to keep the discussion going and give it lots of tries even when I and they had trouble communicating.  They pointed out the landmarks on the way, the valley, the names of the surrounding mountains (though I couldn't see them in the dark).  Chorrito was telling me about the giant hill or mountain that's right in the middle of the city, but I didn't quite get what she  was saying until later. (The mountain she was talking about has a giant statue on it called La Virgen de Panecillo.)  We talked about the beautiful city lights, the toll roads, their brand-new huge and hugely expensive airport that was built a couple of years ago, the snow on the top of Cotopaxi, so just a little of this and that.  A lot was said that I wasn't picking up on very well.

When we arrived at the hotel, I called Adam on the phone so he could come down and pay them, because that's what he'd told me to do.  I assumed it was because he had Ecuadorian currency, but it was just because he had cash and I didn't; Ecuador is actually the only country in South America whose national currency is the U.S. dollar, so that was very convenient.

I figured that would be the last I saw of those two, but we were to meet Diego on two more occasions after that, which was delightful.  More on that later.

We went into the restaurant inside the Le Parc hotel and Adam introduced me to his co-workers (some from the Ecuador office, some from Adam's location), who were having a late dinner.  Adam told me that all of them had been universally stoked that he was extending his stay so that his wife could join him for leisure time.  He was kind of puzzled by their interest and enthusiasm about it, never having had such supportive co-workers before.

To Be Continued...